Intertwined
by nostalgic-maiden
Summary: Shinigami or human, arrancar or Hollow, it matters not: we've all got stories we want to tell. .:One-shot series:.
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: It's Gone Now  
**Author**: nostalgic-maiden  
**Pairing**: Eh, none really.  
**Characters:** Rukia, Renji, Byakuya  
**Summary**: In which the first man in her life thinks about what he could have done.

**Disclaimer**: Don't own Bleach.

**a/n: **Oh, my poor, _poor_ neglected Bleach fandom...I live! Actually, I wracked up quite a collection of Bleach one-shots that I've never published...and none of them are good enough for them to stand alone as a one-shot...so yes. Here's to finally having a collection of my small pieces!

* * *

He swore once that if he was ever able to reach her again, he would never, _ever_ let her go. 

Never.

A man could only make such a mistake once in his life – once was more than enough for him.

If only he could go back and change the things he had done before; if he could turn back time, he would go back to _that_ particular moment and say, "Don't go."

And maybe things would have been different. No, things _definitely_ would have been different.

For one, she'd still be Rukia. Just Rukia. No fancy family name, no fancy protocol to follow, no fancy brother watching her every move.

Simply Rukia. It had been enough back then – why wasn't it enough now?

Of course, that was a rhetorical question – Renji might be rather dense at times, but even _he_ knew that to be part of a prestigious noble family, one had to _behave_ in a certain way.

Why, oh _why_ had Rukia suddenly piqued Kuchiki Byakuya's interest? There were _tons_ of other dark-haired, violet-eyed women out there, and from what he heard, Rukia didn't even have _that_ kind of a relationship with Byakuya. So _why on earth_ had his captain decided to_adopt _the poor girl? Well, many people would kill to be in her position, that was certain. But the expression he always saw on her face, or rather, the lack thereof, told him that it certainly wasn't the case with her.

He wanted to reach her so badly. He _needed_ to be able to talk to her again, to smile at her again, to hold her again. Like back when they were simply Rukongai citizens, when things were solved easily by having a quick and dirty fistfight instead of all the _procedure_ and _paperwork_ and _protocol_ and bullshit like that.

But the past is the past, and now there are two lonely shinigami standing in the shadow of a powerful, but just as lonely captain.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

**Title**: Fragments  
**Author**: nostalgic-maiden  
**Pairing**: Hisagi/Hinamori (-ish), Hinamori/Aizen  
**Summary**: In which Shuuhei remembers and loses himself in the present.

**Disclaimer**: Don't own Bleach.

**a/n: **Yes, you read that right - Hisagi Shuuhei/Hinamori Momo. Why? Because I can, that's why. And because it interests me. Just a slight warning for slight angst and implications of...stuff.

* * *

He remembers her because she had been one of those three freshmen who had saved his life. Well actually, she had disobeyed his orders and_then_ saved his life. And she actually became a fellow lieutenant somewhere along the way.

But that's beside the point.

Even in the heat of battle he noticed that she had a cute face and pretty eyes. But then Aizen and Ichimaru had appeared and her gaze was fixed solely on the former, and he knew he had no chance.

But it was okay. He was _the_ Hisagi Shuuhei. And there were many other girls.

--

The next time he remembers seeing her is at her promotion to vice-captain. She had been the first of her friends to be promoted, merely a decade after graduation.

He had given her a smile and congratulated her. For a moment, a blush had adorned her cheeks and he thought he might have a chance, but then Aizen had placed a hand on her shoulder and she lost interest in everyone and everything else.

He turned and walked away.

--

The life support machinery beeps softly, a rather comforting background noise to keep silence from deafening her visitors.

He doesn't say anything. He doesn't even sit down. He knows a lost cause when he sees one.

--

It is inevitable when she awakes that she seeks him out. Well, she could have went to Kira as well, but said man was in the same poor shape that she was in.

Her cheeks are thinner and her eyes have lost the shine they used to have and there is none of the childlike aura surrounding her anymore – that very aura that used to attract him to her.

But even so, she needed him and he needed to _be_ needed, so it was okay.

--

And later, when he discovered that she had pliant lips and her hands knew exactly where to go and her hips knew exactly which way to roll and she was not at all shy with her mouth, he realized that he would probably get played just like she had gotten played buy it was okay, because it was all he had left.

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

**Title**: Under the Sky  
**Author**: nostalgic-maiden  
**Pairing**: vague Bya/Uno, IchiRuki  
**Summary**: In which he is off in a corner and she is wondering why.

**Disclaimer**: Don't own Bleach.

**a/n:** Written for ladynepheene at lj.

* * *

"Why is the brother of the bride off drinking by himself?"

He had sensed her long before she spoke, but inclined his head to acknowledge her. Taking his easy silence as an indication that he wasn't in a particularly foul mood, she went ahead and stepped closer.

She didn't expect him to lose the cold face and stiff mannerisms even for his sister's wedding, particularly because she was getting married to the very man who had managed to defeat him all those years ago, but Unohana still found it a little strange that he would be off by himself. He did, after all, love his sister very much – _that_ was quite obvious.

As she expected, he didn't answer her question. She sighed slightly, but turned to the night sky that he was staring so intently at.

It seemed infinitely large and completely unreachable – not at all different from the man she was standing beside.

"It isn't that bad, you know," she began again. "Rukia-san may be married now, but she's never gone. You know she'll be back by your side in a heartbeat should you ever need to see her. She loves you just as much as she loves Ichigo-san, and she respects you even more."

"Things change, but not necessarily for the worst," she went on.

Byakuya said nothing, but grasped the sake bottle at his side. Meeting her quizzical eyes, he motioned to her empty cup. She smiled and gave it to him, bowing slightly when he returned it, full to the brim.

Unohana was never one to drink very much, but special occasions called for exceptions.

She lifted her cup. "To new beginnings?"

He seemed to think for a while, and lifted his as well.

_To new beginnings._

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

**Title**: Homecoming  
**Author**: nostalgic-maiden  
**Pairing**: none  
**Characters**: Byakuya, Rukia, Renji, Ichigo  
**Summary**: In which people notice the difference post-war.

**Disclaimer**: Don't own Bleach.

* * *

They find it strange that, when everything has been said and done and they return to Soul Society, trailing behind Kuchiki Byakuya is not his loud and loyal lieutenant, Abarai Renji, but his quiet and graceful sister, Rukia.

She can feel the stares of the shinigami – it is a known fact that while being siblings, the Kuchiki duo were not particularly close. And here they were, with Rukia stepping daintily right behind him, a serene expression on her delicate features. The 6th division captain himself is just as serene as his sister, his expression not betraying the fact that the two of them had literally fought death together in Hueco Mundo. For all they knew, he could have been taking a stroll among the sakura groves he so liked to frequent.

But something was different about them. Something nobody could put his or her finger on.

Well, unless you actually _knew_ the two in question. Renji, for example, knew that from now on he would probably have to visit the Kuchiki estate instead of the 13th Division office to find his childhood friend, as Rukia would probably be home more often, rather than trying and trying to cram work in to please her brother. Ichigo, too, knew that he would feel more secure about leaving Rukia in Soul Society because she wasn't so alone anymore, because he knew she felt safe around her brother now. She had a protector now, just like he was a protector to his own younger sisters.

Because they knew Byakuya and Rukia's relationship was on the road of repair and growth, because the pair were finally moving on from when time seemed to stop for the two of them.

And Rukia had never felt so safe before, walking in her brother's shadow, knowing that if anything happened, he would turn around and be there.

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

**Title**: Let Me Perish in a Field of Ice  
**Author**: nostalgic-maiden  
**Pairing**: none  
**Character(s):**Hitsugaya, Matsumoto  
**Summary**: In which Hitsugaya dies. Or dreams. Or perhaps both.

**Disclaimer**: Don't own Bleach.

* * *

Hitsugaya had never known what it felt like to hold immense power until the day Matsumoto told him that _his_ power was slowly killing his grandmother.

It devastated him.

It was one of the two times he had felt helpless in his entire, albeit relatively short, life.

The second time was when he realized that even his immense power couldn't save Hinamori from herself.

Truth be told, Hitsugaya never _wanted_ this immense power – even now, if given the choice, he would honestly say that he wished he wasn't this boy genius that everyone talked about.

From an early age, he knew that power could _hurt_, power could _kill_.

He dreamed of dying on a plain of ice. He saw the enormous dragon of ice, that elderly spirit that resided within him.

And he saw death mirrored in its red, _red_ eyes.

But in the end, it didn't matter whether or not he left to save his grandmother, because she died anyway.

It had been during the heat of summer.

He dreams of dying on a plain of ice.

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

**Title**: Distance  
**Author**: nostalgic-maiden  
**Pairing**: Hitsugaya/Karin  
**Warning(s):** Spoilers for up to the current chapter. Oh, just that I took Bleach episode 150 (I think?) as canon. Yeah, that Hitsugaya and Karin episode. Shoot me.  
**Summary:** They're only worlds apart. That really doesn't amount to much in the end.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Bleach or its characters.

* * *

Karin always thought he looked like an elementary school student. Always. Even now, years later, when the end of the war was in sight and they had both grown up a lot, she still liked to think he was the snot-nosed kid who had helped her team win that soccer game back then.

Well, he was never _really_ a snot-nosed kid, him being all professional and a high-and-mighty captain and all, but the twelve-year-old Karin who had thought that thought had really been quite immature.

In all honesty, Hitsugaya Toushirou had grown up _really nicely_. Even Karin, who usually never looked twice at drop dead _gorgeous_ boys, did a double take when she saw Hitsugaya for the first time in five years.

Karakura Town had been transferred over to Soul Society for a while and its inhabitants had been put to sleep, but being from the spiritually gifted family that she was from, Karin had managed to stay awake through the whole thing. Awake, but unable to do anything. It had been hard, doing nothing but waiting and waiting and _praying_.

And as the war had dragged on and as the rest of her family and herself joined in the effort – her father on the battlefield, herself as reconnaissance, and Yuzu on the wards with the 4th Division – she began to lose track of time.

Fighting a long, dragging war did that to a person.

It was like she had been underwater for ages, and when she finally surfaced, she met him again.

It had been a coincidence – she had been restationed to the _fake_ Karakura to do some on-site recon work with some of the geeks from the 12th; he had been there since the beginning of the war.

During one short breather between engaging the enemy again, she happened to come across a soccer ball. Nostalgia had overcome her – having nothing better to do, she began kicking it around. That had been how he found her – dribbling the ball towards her goal (the three metres of space between a garbage can and a hastily removed sweater).

He recognized her right away – the same determination he had seen on her face so many years ago was still there.

And that was how they started.

Things weren't easy – war was not a pretty backdrop for _any_ developing romance, and to top it off, they were both very dominant people with dominant personalities. It was hard not to clash sometimes. And there were so many unanswered questions between them, the biggest one being, "What's going to happen when the war ends and you have to go?"

But in the end, only one thing mattered.

"Y'know, if _they_ made it work," Karin quietly said, tipping her head slightly towards a bickering Ichigo and Rukia, "I'm pretty sure we can make it too."

He smiled and reached for her hand. She didn't swat it away, letting his larger hand envelope hers.

Yes, they would make it. After all, it didn't matter how far away Soul Society was when they had each other in their hearts.


End file.
